Are Monroe bridges on the road to ruin?

PennDOT says Monroe County's bridges are safe — even those with ratings near the bottom of a 1-to-100 scale used in a national inventory.

SUSAN KOOMAR

PennDOT says Monroe County's bridges are safe — even those with ratings near the bottom of a 1-to-100 scale used in a national inventory.

Seven local bridges fall within the 0-49 segment, which means they are eligible for federal money to be replaced.

The lowest-rated bridge, which carries Seventh Street over McMichael Creek and Interstate 80 in Stroudsburg, gets a 12.5 based on safety, structural soundness and other measures.

There are no plans for major repairs or replacement, said Ron Young, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Young said PennDOT's criteria for closing a bridge is "if it poses any threat to the safety of the public."

He described the sufficiency ratings as a system to determine "what type of federal funding a bridge would be eligible for."

The bridge with the second lowest rating — 19.5 — carries Route 209 over Interstate 80. The span is listed on a regional improvement program for replacement, said Young. Preliminary engineering is under way with no set date for completion. After that, the final design phase will take 18 to 24 months. Then construction can begin.

Emergency repairs began Wednesday on one of the county's third worst major bridges: Route 33 over Pocono Creek. The right lane is closed while workers fix a pothole in the road. The underlying structure of the bridge is not at risk, according to PennDOT.

The project may be done Monday.

Drivers noticed that barriers recently went up under the Interstate 80 overpass on West Main Street past Perkins.

Work began Monday to repair the pier, pier cap and replace the east side expansion dam. The project is expected to continue through November.

The sidewalk will be closed in the immediate area on the east side of Main Street.

Some time next month there will be work on top of the bridge on Interstate 80 east. Crews will rebuild the left side shoulder at night (7 p.m. to 5 a.m.). One lane will be closed for about a week. PennDOT will issue an advisory at that time.

Work on top of the bridge will include replacing the east side expansion dam. At that time, there will be traffic lane shifts but no lanes will be closed.

Major projects are prioritized by regional groups, said Young. For Monroe County, the group is the Northeast Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA), which includes representatives from PennDOT and local governments in Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill, Pike and Wayne counties.

NEPA recommends projects to the state transportation commission, which updates the PennDOT's 12-year plan every two years.